Never Leave Me
by Laur-ox
Summary: Holly's life is turned upside down when her beloved younger sister Emma gets murdered. With no one else to turn to, she calls her best friend Dean Winchester. But what happens when Emma comes back suddenly? What happens if something is wrong with her?
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer - I own nothing that you recognize._

**A/N - This is a story for anybody out there who has a sister. I have two, and I know that as we grow and mature we will become each other's best friends. **

_Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. _  
_You know whatever you do, they'll still be there. _  
_ ~Amy Li_

**Chapter one - Inseperable**

How do people make it through life without a sister? This was a question that Emma often pondered over. If it wasn't for her older sister Holly then she was certain that she would be ten feet under by now; Holly was truly her rock, she was her best friend. Emma's older sister had been there when she took her first stumbling steps, she'd watched her go through her first childhood crush, and then her first true relationship, and then she'd sit there with a tub of ice cream whilst Emma got over break ups too. She was everything that an older sister should be.

This moment was no different. Emma was sat on the edge of the hard seat, watching through the bars, as her older sister stood in front of the police officer and gave him a piece of her mind.

"No, how about you listen to me? My sister would never do any of that crap sober! She was drunk, the bitch started on her, put two and two together..." Holly argued, her cheeks blazing the same crimson color as her hair.

The officer simply raised his eyebrow. "Ma'am, your sister attacked the poor woman."

Holly scoffed immediately. "Poor woman?" She looked around in disbelief. "_Poor fucking woman_? Excuse me for my language officer but that 'poor woman' was playing tonsil tennis with my sister's long-term boyfriend. That 'poor woman' is a filthy, two timing, conniving man-stealing slut!"

Emma looked down at the dazed memory of seeing her beloved Tom locking lips with another woman. Of course, she'd been devastated and furious at the same time. All she wanted to do was let her anger out, so she literally pounced on the blond bimbo and punched her a few times. Sitting in a prison cell over night was worth making that bitch pay.

"If you'd please just calm down for a moment Ma'am-"

"I am calm." Holly pointed out, her lips pursed tightly together. Emma knew immediately that her sister was anything less than calm, she knew that she was secretly livid. "Just get my sister out of here, she won't do it again."

The officer nodded. "You're lucky that it's her first offense."

Emma sighed in relief; She really couldn't stand staring at the same cell for a moment longer. All that she wanted to do was get the hell back to civilization and have a hug from her sister, and then maybe burn everything that Tom had left at their apartment.

"Thank you officer! That's the kind of cooperation that I was looking for." Holly muttered as she perched on the wooden desk in front of her. She watched the officer walk towards Emma's cell, mumbling something on his way, and then glanced towards her younger sister, flashing her a smirk as she mimicked the police officer. She gave him a fake salute and then screwed her face up and silently mumbled.

Emma had to bite the inside of her lip to stop herself from giggling. The situation was actually quite serious, she'd managed to land herself a night in a prison cell and her boyfriend had cheated on her, but her sister managed to make her smile nevertheless. Still, she had to remain composed because laughing in the face of the law was probably a very stupid idea.

* * *

"Bye officer," Holly winked before turning back in the direction of her car and slinking her arm around her sister's shoulders. "So, you're a rebel now."

Emma laughed, despite the pit in her stomach that was slowly lurching. All of the adrenaline of actually being put in a cell for the night was rapidly disappearing, and being steadily replaced with the realization that her boyfriend had cheated on her.

Holly could read her sister like a book. She was furious. If it wasn't for Emma being chucked into the cell then she would have marched over to Tom's by now and done some serious damage of herself, though she was certain that if she did then she would be facing a life sentence. Nobody messed with her sister and got away with it. "Em, he's not worth it." They stopped in front of her car as she used her spare hand to fiddle through her bag and find the keys. "You know what? Let's go back to the apartment and burn every single thing he left there. Then we can sit down with a bottle of wine and a movie, yeah?" She fished the keys out of her bag and then unlocked the car, before letting go of her sister and getting into it.

"That sounds good." Emma admitted, adding as much enthusiasm as possible to her voice, as she too got into the car. She knew that Holly was trying hard to cheer her up and she didn't want to be a buzz kill. The sisters fell into a small state of silence, which was something that was rare for the two of them. No matter what, even if the end of the world happened, they would always find something light hearted to talk about.

But Emma didn't really feel like conversing, she had too much to wrap around her head. Tom, whom she was certain she was falling for, had cheated on her with the town bike. Her eyes instinctively narrowed as she pushed a hand through her long, silky brunette hair. "I'm just so angry." Emma suddenly stated, her voice dry. By now, the car was moving along the road and back towards their flat. She watched the familiar scenery pass by.

Holly gripped her steering wheel tightly between her hands, simply nodding as she did so. She was truly livid. Every morsel of her body wanted to go straight to the garage that Tom worked at and run him over several times. But she couldn't because, at the end of the day, how would that really help Emma? She needed to cheer her sister up before she even contemplated revenge. Oh, there were so many different scenarios going through her mind of how she could make Tom pay for his stupid mistake... but they could wait, and get more calculated with time. For now, her number one priority was her sister.

"This is all my fault." Emma blinked back tears as she turned harshly from the window.

"Excuse me?" Holly momentarily whipped her head in Emma's direction, her eyebrow raised. "Emma, this is not your fault! You didn't make him stick his tongue down another woman's thr-"

"Okay, I don't need a mental reminder," Emma cut her sister off, her hands waving wildly around in the car. "Look, it is my fault... you know how I am; I'm not the type of person to jump in bed with somebody until I know that I love them. I practically pushed him towards her."

Emma and Holly were bipolar opposites in that respect. Emma was so much more old fashioned... she couldn't go the full way with someone until she knew that she loved them with all of her heart. She'd only had sex once, and that was with her high school sweetheart. Back then, she thought it was love. Her supposed high school sweetheart ended up breaking her heart straight after so she vowed to herself that she needed to be in love with the person before they went all the way.

Holly, on the other hand, had so many notches on her bed post. She just couldn't help it, but she slept with everybody and anybody. She didn't really believe in all of the relationship crap and she just liked to have fun. Her idea of fun resulted in one too many drinks before waking up in the morning next to a complete stranger.

"Emma, don't you dare try and blame yourself! I know that you really liked him but if he's going to be a dick and cheat on you then he's just not the right one. One day, you will find someone who will accept you and your beliefs for what they are, and you will be madly in love with him." Holly paused when she realized that she was being too much of a sappy girl. "Y'know, and all that shit..." She added for good measure.

Emma couldn't help but smile as she lent over to squeeze Holly's shoulder. "Thanks sis, for everything."

"Hey," Holly was quick to dismiss her efforts. "What are big sister's for? Now, let's go find us a bottle of wine."

* * *

Emma sat in the car and smiled to herself as she watched Holly ponder over the best wine to buy. She still felt numb inside but, somehow, spending time with her sister always helped her to feel much more cheerful than she should be in certain situations.

"Get out of the car!"

Her attention was suddenly torn away from the shop window, and redirected to the sound of a demanding voice. She turned to see a man in black clothes stood on the other side of the car door, a gun raised in his hands. Emma raised her eyebrow as she was in too much shock to even contemplate what was happening. One moment she was sat watching her sister, the next she was face to face with a thug.

"I said, get out of the damned car or I'll blow your fucking brains out!"

Emma didn't waste anymore time. She shakily unlocked the passenger door and then pushed it open. As soon as she had, the man gripped her arm and pulled her roughly out of the car, causing her to fall flat on her face. It felt like she was on the floor for ages, until a hand grabbed her hair and pulled her up again.

"Where are the keys?"

She looked into the robber's eyes and then glanced towards the rental shop. Somehow, her sister hadn't heard the commotion, there were people around them though, watching, but too scared to intervene. Some of them had their cell phones out to alert the authorities, some of them were too terrified to move.

Emma looked back towards the rental shop... Holly had the keys, but she couldn't put her older sister's life in danger. If Holly found out what was happening she would stupidly advance on the thug and refuse to give him the car, and he had a gun in his hands.

"Y-You can't have the keys." Emma was shocked to hear how dry and shaky her own voice sounded.

The man's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?" His grip around her hair tightened, causing her to yelp in pain. "You are in no position to tell me what I can and can't do." He glanced around frantically at the growing crowd and then pushed her up against the car. "If you don't tell me where the keys are, I'll kill you."

"You can't have this car."

Everything else that happened after that moment felt like it was all in slow motion. Emma looked around at the crowds of people, before hearing a loud bang, which was suddenly felt a burning, searing pain in her stomach. It was so intense that it caused an ear-piercing scream to erupt from her mouth before she stumbled to the floor. This was followed by commotion from the crowd. Emma gripped on to her stomach as she watched the majority of them step back a pace of two, whilst others were frantically giving directions on their cells. She took a deep, ragged breath as she continued to cry out in pain, and then looked up at the person who had shot her.

The man took one look at the damage he had done and suddenly sprinted away from the scene.

"Emma?"

Emma's attention was suddenly focused on Holly, who was stood at the doorway of the rental shop. Her hands were gripped tightly against the frame of the door, and her blue eyes were widened in disbelief. "No!" She suddenly screamed out as she sprinted towards her younger sister at full speed. "No, no, no!"

Within seconds, Emma was suddenly pulled into her sister's arms and was looking up at Holly, her eyes wide with fear. Every single pain was sharpening more and more by the second.

"Somebody get an ambulance here now!" Holly was barking orders at every member of the public, but her voice was slowly becoming more and more distant to Emma with every second that passed.

Holly glanced down at her younger sister, tears streaming from her face. One moment she was in the shop buying wine, the next she heard the loud gun shot, and then the scream.. the scream that caused her to drop the wine bottle in a flash second. When she heard it, she instantly knew that it was Emma.

"Holly," Emma tried to force out her sister's name from her mouth, but she was suddenly coughing up liquid.

Holly winced when she saw the blood that was coming out of Emma's mouth. "It's okay, an ambulance is coming."

Emma continued to cough as the pain in her stomach began to slowly numb, her vision becoming more and more blurred. "I... couldn't let him... get... you." She moved her shaking hand and gripped Holly's with it. Tears fell down her cheeks as she tried to gulp back blood. "I.. love you."

"Don't you dare say that!" Holly snapped, her voice desperate, as she gripped her sister more tightly. She looked down at the injury to see blood steaming from Emma's stomach and instantly winced. She was terrified, but she couldn't let Emma just give up hope. "You're going to be okay, you have to be okay... so don't you dare say your goodbyes to me!"

Emma's eyes drooped closed, and then suddenly snapped open again, as her body rapidly became paler and paler.

"Emma, come on, talk to me!" Holly was sobbing by now, her body shaking violently, the fear inside of her reaching a climax. Emma shared one last look with her sister and then her eyes rolled to the back of her head, which caused Holly to gasp.

Holly's world literally stopped for a few moments when she realized that her baby sister wasn't breathing. "No," She whispered, her voice raw. Then reality hit her. "Emma, wake up," She shook her sister, her own head shaking in disbelief. "EMMA, WAKE UP! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!"

"Ma'am, you really need to-"

Holly's head snapped up to meet the eyes of a concerned civilian, which caused her to look around at all of the other people who were gathered around. She suddenly lost it. "GET AWAY FROM US!" She yelled so loudly that the remaining people moved backwards. Some of them walked right away from the scene, but the concerned others still loitered. Holly didn't care.

She embraced her lifeless sister's form and sobbed violently.

Emma was dead.

* * *

The Impala drove down the back lane, rock music blaring from inside of it. "Nothin' like some AC/DC in the morning." Dean grinned, from ear to ear, cheerfully as he bobbed his head along to the music.

His brother raised his eyebrow, amused at Dean's particularly chipper mood. But then he looked back down to his laptop... they needed to find some sort of hunt and he was the only one in a sensible enough mood to search for one.

Suddenly, Dean's phone went off, causing him to lean over and flip it open. Sam turned the radio down for him as he put his cell against his ear. "Dean Winchester."

He was instantly met with the sound of violent sobbing. "_Dean, thank god it's you!_"

Even though he could barely understand anything that the woman was saying, Dean instantly knew who it was. "Holly! What's wrong?" Holly was now sobbing so uncontrollably that she couldn't come up with any words. Dean raised his eyebrow, concerned, as he knew that something was definitely going on with her. Whatever it was happening was serious. "Hey, calm down."

Sam glanced towards his brother curiously.

Holly took a deep breath and managed to steady herself. "_I didn't know.. who else to call. Emma's-_" But as soon as she thought about her sister she was in another fit of tears. "_Emma's dead._"

Dean was in utter shock. "What?" He questioned in disbelief; he knew how close Emma and Holly were, and he knew how devastated Holly was. After all, he had experienced something similar with Sam's death. "Listen, I'm on my way. I'll be there as soon as possible... go back to your apartment, try to clear your head, eat something-"

"_Don't tell me to act normal when she's gone!_" Holly snapped so loudly that Dean couldn't help but flinch. "_I'm sorry,_" She told him instantly.

"It's okay," Dean couldn't help but feel slightly emotional. "Just wait at your apartment for me, I'll be there as soon as I can."

"_Okay,_" Dean closed his eyes; he hated how helpless she sounded, and how lost she obviously was. "_Bye._"

"I'll be there soon." Dean clicked his cell phone shut and then stared ahead, dumbfounded. Holly's little sister was dead, his best friend's little sister was dead. He could barely think straight.

"What was that about?" Sam questioned, causing Dean to come crashing back to reality.

He turned briefly towards his brother, but not before trying to get his emotions into check. "I've got a friend in Wyoming-"

"Are you sure she's just a friend?"

"Yeah, dude, she's like my best friend." Dean pointed out, before shaking his head in disbelief. "We're heading out there, her sister's... dead." It still felt weird to say, Dean just couldn't believe it. Holly and Emma were practically inseparable, they did everything together. He hadn't seen either of them in almost a year, and now his best friend's life was turned upside down.

* * *

**So, should I continue? Let me know what you think! **


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer - I own nothing that you recognize._

**A/N - Thank you Deangirls1 for reviewing, and thank you to everybody who has added this story to their Story Alerts.. It really means a lot! I'm definitely going to continue with this story.**

_A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ~Marion C. Garretty  
_**  
Chapter two - Lost without you**

Everything in their flat reminded Holly of Emma. Whether it was the framed pictures of them on the lounge wall, or the daily 'to do' list on their refrigerator, she had left her mark everywhere. Holly couldn't bare to look at any of it. An anger suddenly erupted from deep inside of her and she completely lost it. Viscously, she ripped down all of the photos, throwing them down on to the floor forcefully. She stalked towards the kitchen and tore away all of the silly notes and to do lists that Emma had covered the refrigerator with. Time went by without her even realizing it.

* * *

Holly sat on the edge of Emma's unmade bed and stared into space. She didn't destroy anything in this room, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't bring herself to move, she couldn't bring herself to even think. She was completely numb. Her baby sister, her Emma, was dead. Holly had overheard a member of the crowd telling the police what had happened; Emma had downright refused to give the thug the car, she utterly refused to hand over the keys. Emma had died trying to protect Holly's car. The guilt that surged through Holly's body was unbelievable. If she had been out there instead of Emma, if they hadn't gotten the wine... there were so many 'what ifs' running through Holly's mind now.

She sat there for hours and hours, staring into the same spot, barely blinking. Holly didn't feel alive.

* * *

"So, you really managed to maintain a friendship with a woman?" Sam asked his brother, his eyebrow raised, as the two of them stood in front of the main door of the block of apartments. They had literally rushed into this town, driving at speeds that even considered fast.

Dean turned to face his brother briefly. "Yeah, well, today is filled with surprises." He wasn't in a very good mood. In a way, he, too, was mourning for the loss of Emma. She was his best friend's sister and whenever he popped into the town to see Holly she was there. He had really gotten on with the younger sister, and he knew how much she meant to Holly. Shaking himself away from his thoughts, he turned back towards the door and dialed Holly's flat number into the intercom and waited for a reply.

"Why didn't you tell me about them?" Sam asked softly. It was a question that was digging at his mind ever since Dean that phone call from Holly. If his brother had a best friend, then why didn't he know about her?

"Because I didn't want to drag them into this lifestyle." Dean replied, his voice low. He had kept hunting from Holly and Emma because he couldn't bear the thought of them falling into it's harsh world. He decided that the best way to do this was to keep them a secret from everybody that hunted with him, including his own brother.

"_Hello?_"

Both of the brothers turned to face the intercom at the sound of Holly's voice. Dean couldn't believe how broken she sounded. There was no emotion in her voice, and the bounce that was usually there had disappeared, only to be replaced with numbness. "Holly, it's me."

Silence.

"Holly?"

The line went dead and then the sound of a buzz became apparent.

The two brothers shared a confused glance before Dean opened the main door and stepped inside of the main building. When Sam didn't follow him he paused to question him.

"Sammy, come on," He motioned for his brother to follow him but Sam simply shook his head.

"You need to go and see her on your own first, she doesn't even know who I am.. I saw a coffee shop a few blocks down the road, I'll run down there to grab myself something whilst you talk to her."

Dean couldn't help but smile softly. He knew that Sam was right; Holly didn't have a clue who Sam was and she had asked for Dean. She had just lost her younger sister so she probably only really wanted to see someone who she was familiar with. "Thanks Sammy."

* * *

Holly stood by her front door and stared at the intercom. She had just spoken to Dean Winchester, he was on his way up to the apartment. She suddenly regretted calling him because now she had to face him in the state that she was in.

Literally two minutes after she had pressed the buzzer to let him in, the door was being pounded on which caused her to jump in surprise. She quickly overcame her shock as she shakily lent forward to pull the door open. When she did, she was greeted with the sight of her best friend. He hadn't changed at all.

Dean stood on the other side of the door for a few moments, in shock. He looked at his friend and couldn't help but let his heart break a little bit. The glow that was usually on her face had disappeared and was replaced with no emotion at all. The way she stared at him, as if she didn't care what the next day brought, made his insides hurt. Holly, his crazy, hyper active, strong willed best friend, wasn't there anymore. She appeared cold hearted, hopeless, guilty and distraught. Her tear stained face turned away from his for a few moments, which caused him to walk into the room and softly grab her right arm.

She slowly turned back to face him and as soon as they locked eyes she lost it. In one swift movement, Holly fell into his arms, her body wracked in sobs. Dean caught her as soon as she did and embraced her tightly as he lowered them both down to the floor. His spare hand ran through her hair as he looked around the apartment; it appeared to be completely trashed which was strange to see due to the fact that Holly was probably one of the cleanest people that Dean knew. She was also usually one of the emotionally strongest girls that he knew, and now she was breaking down.

Dean didn't know what to do. He had barely ever seen Holly cry, and he'd definitely never seen her in such a state. So, he did all that he could do; he pressed a soft kiss to the crown of her forehead and allowed her to let out all of the pain and anger that she was feeling.

* * *

Once Holly had calmed down, it was as if she had turned into some sort of emotionless robot. She didn't even look Dean in the eye when she sprung away from him to head into the kitchen. She just kept her head up high and avoided any sort of conversation, at all costs.

Dean sat in his spot on the floor, puzzled, for a few moments before jumping up and following her. When he got to the kitchen, he saw that his red headed friend was sat down at the table, and he also saw the amount of mess that seemed to be everywhere he looked in the apartment. There were pieces of smashed glass and torn pictures all over the place and his best friend, who happened to be the biggest control freak that he knew, was just sat in the middle of it as if she didn't have a care in the world.

He sighed sadly to himself. "Looks like a hurricane hit this place." He muttered, trying to add some sort of joke to the atmosphere.

Holly didn't laugh, she didn't even crack a small smile. This caused Dean to awkwardly walk towards her to sit on the chair beside her. "Holl'," He began, his voice soft.

Holly shook her head. "Don't give me any sympathy... I don't deserve it." She stated firmly, still not looking at him. It was as if she was simply talking to herself. "If I had been out there, if I had protected her like I always should do then-" Holly cut herself off. She couldn't bear to state that Emma was dead, it was too final for her. "She got shot Dean, she got shot protecting my fucking car!"

Dean instinctively pulled one of her hands into his. "This isn't your fault." He told her, in a low voice, causing her to shake her head again. He grew frustrated; how could his best friend blame herself for this? "Holly, you didn't make it happen, okay? You didn't plan this. It happened, and it's so terrible, but you aren't responsible for this."

Holly whipped her head in Dean's direction, her eyes burning with fire. "I'm her sister Dean, her older sister! I've always vowed to keep her safe and to protect her, and look what happens on my watch; she gets shot! She got attacked by a thug." A shudder ran down Holly's back as she remembered holding her sister and watching her last breath. "Dean, I can't live without her, I really can't." She used her spare hand to viscously wipe tears from her face. Dean decided that he hated how lost she looked. It was as if she could barely function without her sister by her side, which was a feeling that Dean knew very well from when he lost his own sibling.

At the thought of losing his brother, he remembered that Sam was, in fact, in town with him. "Holl', my brother's here too. He's travelling with me again, how about you go and get showered, I'll whip us up something to eat, and then I'll get Sam to rent us a motel."

"You guys can just stay here." Holly shrugged carelessly, then she bit her lip to stop tears from forming in her eyes. "It's not like we've not got enough room now."

"Holl'," Dean began sympathetically.

Holly couldn't really take anymore of Dean feeling sorry for her, she just couldn't. In one swift movement, she jumped up from her seat, prying her hand away from Dean's, and shook her head. "I'm going to go and try to get some shut eye."

"D'you really think you should be alone right now?" Dean asked hesitantly.

"Dean, I'm tired." Holly stated bitterly, as she folded her arms against her chest. "It's been a long day. Help yourself to whatever, this is only a building to me now." With those last words, she turned on her feet and headed straight towards Emma's bedroom.

* * *

Holly lied to Dean. She wasn't sleeping, she hadn't even managed to get one second of rest. She clung on to Emma's old teddy bear, the one that she gave her when she was first born, and stared at a picture of the two of them that was sat on Emma's nightstand; They were at the annual fair in the picture and eight year old Emma had won her first prize ever. It was such an achievement to her that she decided that they needed to document the evidence. So, she jumped on her twelve year old sister's back, prize in hand, as the two of them pulled a silly face.

Holly blinked back tears as she recalled that memory and then turned to face away from the framed picture, clinging on even tighter to the teddy bear.

* * *

"Come on in dude," Dean told his brother, in a hushed voice, as he beckoned Sam into the apartment.

Sam stepped in and raised his eyebrow at Dean, who was wearing cleaning gloves. "Um," He motioned towards his brother's hands, slightly amused.

Dean narrowed his eyes. "Shut up." He muttered as the two of them walked further into the apartment. Dean had decided to do Holly a favour and clean the apartment up before she woke up. He figured that once she got over the initial shock of everything she would be compelled to clean everything up, because that was just in her nature. So, he saved her some painstaking time. "I didn't want to cut myself." Dean pointed out, motioning towards the remainder of glass on the floor. He had cleaned the kitchen up completely and now he was just finishing up with the lounge.

His younger brother looked around at the mess and frowned. "What happened?" He questioned, concerned.

"I think Holly took her anger out before we got here..." Dean trailed off. After all, unless Emma and Holly decided to have a house party the night before, then there was no other reasonable explanation for such a mess.

"Oh." Sam muttered awkwardly. He really didn't know how to react to anything, after all, he didn't exactly know Dean's best friend. Though, he understood why she would be angry. If it was Dean that was dead, then Sam would do more than just destroy a few rooms. "Where's Holly now?"

"Sleeping." Dean gave his brother a one worded answer before leaning down and picking up some more glass.

Then Sam caught wind of a burning smell. "Um, Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"Something's burning..."

Dean's head suddenly snapped up, his eyes wide. "Shit!" He jumped up from his spot and practically sprinted to the kitchen, Sam following closely behind him.

The two brothers were greated with a smokey kitchen and an even more intense burning smell. Dean didn't waste any time; He pulled the oven door open and dragged a very charred pizza from it. "I completely forgot about the pizza!" He muttered in annoyance as he dropped the pizza into the trash can and then begun to fan away at the smoke. "Dude, open a window."

Sam chuckled under his breath as he made his way towards the largest window in the room. He pulled it open and coughed a little bit when some smoke went down his throat. "You burnt a pizza?"

"I was busy cleaning!" Dean defended his foolish mistake. "Besides, you know I can barely cook toast without setting a fire in the process!" He just wanted to make a little bit of food for Holly for when she woke up and he managed to screw that up. When he turned around, he almost jumped out of his skin at the sight of Holly by the door of the room. Sam turned to see why his brother had been shocked and saw the young woman standing a few metres from them both, looking completely disconnected from her body.

She was then looking around at all of the smoke, wide eyed. It was the first real glimpse of her ordinary self that Dean had seen since he arrived here. "Jesus Holl', you scared the hell out of me." Dean breathed as he gained his composure back.

"Erm, what's with all the smoke?" She questioned. The burning smell was the initial thing that had caused her to come and check that everything was still okay, but then when she left Emma's room she saw the smoke and panicked.

Dean sheepishly pointed to the bin. "I burnt a pizza."

"Oh." Holly stated, unsure of what else to say. Then she glanced over to the tall man on the other side of the room and nodded towards him. "Is he your brother?"

"Yeah-"

Sam stepped forward and offered her a small smile, cutting Dean off. "I'm Sam, it's nice to meet you." Holly nodded in agreement, though nothing really felt nice for her at the moment. "I'm sorry about your loss..." Sam trailed off hesitantly, causing Dean to shoot him a wary look.

Again, Holly nodded. She wanted to be polite to Dean's younger brother, but at the same time she couldn't even think properly.

Dean cleared his throat, noticing the awkwardness. "I'm sorry about the kitchen, I'll just go out and fetch a take out-"

"I'm not hungry." Holly stated, interrupting him. Hunger pangs inside her stomach were replaced with a numbness.

"What have you last eaten?"

"You tidied?" Holly changed the subject and looked around the kitchen. "Thank you."

Before Dean could reply, her front door swung open, causing her to raise her eyebrow and turn in it's direction. When she did, she froze with anger. "You son of a bitch," She snarled as she jolted herself out into the hallway.

Dean and Sam quickly rushed to the kitchen door to see her on top of a guy, swinging her fists repeatedly into his face.

"Holly, ow, let go of me!" The guy pleaded between grunts of pain.

"No!" Holly growled, her voice deadly, as she hit him again. "If it wasn't for you then she wouldn't be dead!" Before she could swing in another punch, she felt two hands pull her off of him. "Dean, let me go," She struggled against his restraints as she watched Tom stand up from the floor and hold his hand to his face.

"It isn't my fault Holly," Tom pointed out, upset.

Holly continued to thrash around in Dean's arms. "Yes it is! You cheated on her, she landed herself in prison, then we went to go and get the bottle of wine... if you hadn't been such a bastard then she wouldn't have gotten shot." She paused as she elbowed Dean's sides. He momentarily let go of her causing her to rush back towards Tom and pin him to the ground again. With tears streaming down her face, she clawed and punched and kicked and snarled. "I hate you!" She screamed out, her emotions at a climax.

Dean shook his head as he got over the shock of Holly elbowing him. In one swift movement, he picked her up and held her tightly against him. "Stop it Holly, the jerk isn't worth it." He directed the last part to the man who was now stood up for the second time.

"She was the love of my life, I'm hurting too-"

Holly stopped trying to escape Dean's restraints for a mere second and let out a bitter laugh. "Love of your life?" She snapped, her voice dangerously low. "You cheated on her Tom! You broke my baby sister's heart, and I didn't even get a chance to cheer her up... you're the reason she's dead."

Dean took one look at the man that was causing Holly so much distress and narrowed his eyes. "Get the fuck out of this apartment before I'm the one who's swinging punches."

Tom didn't hesitate. He gave one last regretful look to Holly and then rushed back out of the apartment, dropping his keys to it on his way out.

Sam walked forward to pick them up and shut the door, and then turned back around to see Holly glaring at his brother. "Dean, why the hell did you let that son of a bitch go?"

"I didn't want you to do anything that you'd regret."

Holly laughed. "Killing that son of a bitch is something that I wouldn't regret... trust me."

"Holls, I wanted to swing a few punches at that jerk too but would Emma really want that?" When Holly didn't say anything, Dean slung one of his arms around her shoulders and kissed the crown of her head. "I know you're hurting but please don't do anything stupid." He gripped her hand and glanced down at the few grazes that she'd managed to gain from punching Tom.

Sam looked at how his brother acted towards Holly and was genuinely shocked. He had never witnessed, or even heard of, Dean treating a girl like this.

"Damn, I forgot how hard your punches are!" Dean muttered as he ran his thumb over the cuts. "Come on, we'll get these cleaned up then I'll whip you up a sandwich." She was about to object but he spoke again. "You need to eat something," He warned her, with a look of worry in his eyes.

She sighed to herself, torn. A part of her wanted to punish herself for being the one that lived, but then another part of her didn't want to keep Dean worried, not after how kind he was being. She simply shook her head when she made up her mind. "I'll eat something later." She lied, looking away from Dean's disappointed stare. "Feel free to make yourself something though." She then glanced over to Sam, offering him a small smile. "You too."

"Holly-"

"Dean, please, just leave it.. I'm really not hungry." Before he could argue, Holly motioned towards the kitchen. "Let's go get the cuts cleaned up." She suggested, craftily averting the subject.

Dean knew what she was doing but he also knew that she was too stubborn for him to get her to change her mind. He decided that he'd keep an eye on her eating habits, especially after what he had discovered when they first became close friends. Sighing, he let her pull him towards the kitchen and watched as she motioned for Sam to follow them too.

Holly truly was lost without her sister, Dean could see that, heck, even Sam could see it. She seemed to be hell bent on punishing herself for what had happened to Emma and Dean wasn't going to let her act like that. Emma wouldn't want it, and neither did he.

* * *

**So, what did you think? Drop me a review and let me know?  
Love you all!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - Thank you to - SuperloudDean for reviewing! And, also, thank you to everyone who is reading this story!**

**Chapter three - Dealing with things**

Holly glanced over towards the sheet covered cabinet and sighed under her breath. With white sheet, she had covered each and every picture of her and Emma. She did this all over the flat, not being able to take the pain of seeing her bright smile on paper when she couldn't see it in real life. The only room that the pictures were uncovered in was Emma's. Everything was exactly the same way that Emma had left it. Nothing had changed. Holly spent her nights in Emma's room; she stared at pictures and clutched on to her younger sister's teddy bear as if it was a life line.

Holly shook herself away from her thoughts. She watched Sam and Dean eat their breakfast as she sipped from her cold glass of water. They had been staying with her for three days now and had been so kind and helpful that she was certain she would never be able to thank them for all that they had done. She had gotten to know Sam a little bit better and decided that she really liked him. He seemed like a really gentle, kind person. The empty feeling inside of her was getting stronger and stronger every day; Holly released no sort of emotion from herself, she kept it locked deep inside of her. It wasn't healthy. Dean knew that, Sam knew that, but she didn't...

There had been times when she suddenly felt a spell of utter dizziness, and just couldn't stand properly. When Dean or Sam noticed it happening she simply wrote it off as being too hot, or feeling ill. The bright, alive color of her face had paled so much that she actually looked like a ghost. Dean didn't like the self destructive path that Holly seemed to be heading towards.

He watched Holly weakly sip from her glass. That was all she had been doing; Sipping, pacing, sipping, cleaning, sipping, pretending that nothing had happened... It was as if she was walking around with some sort of guard surrounding her feelings. It was as if she was suppressing Emma's death... and, by the looks of it, she was digging her own grave too. Dean was slowly beginning to lose his cool. He had tried to get her to eat, even if it was just a little tiny bite of something, but she always changed the subject or just simply got up from her seat and moved to another room. He was really concerned.

Suddenly he slammed his fist down on to the table, causing both Sam and Holly to jump in surprise. When they got over the shock they both looked at him questionably. "Dean, what was that for?" Holly asked, acting as if she was clueless.

This only angered him more. "Don't act as if you have no idea what I'm getting so angry about; you're killing yourself Holly! If only you'd just ea-"

"Hey, Sam, would you like to go and watch a film in the lounge?" Holly turned away from Dean and focused her attention solely on his younger brother, who looked between her and Dean as if he really wished he wasn't being dragged into this conversation. Holly pulled herself up from her chair, steadying herself for a moment or two, and then began to walk towards the kitchen door.

Dean shook his head, his eyes narrowed, and followed quickly behind her. "Oh no you don't!" He grabbed her by her arm and pulled her back towards him. "Stop changing the god damned subject."

Holly tried to pull away from Dean but given her current spell of weakness, and his strength, she stood no chance. So, she glared up at him. "I'll do what I_ god damned_ want to do in my apartment Dean! Get the hell off of me!"

"No," Dean muttered, determined, as he briefly turned to his brother. "Go and fix her a sandwich or something."

Sam nodded and begun to rise up from his seat but Holly stopped him. "Don't you dare!" Her voice was so fierce that Sam stopped mid rise, leaving him hovering above his seat.

"Sammy, make her a sandwich."

The youngest Winchester looked between the two angry faces in front of him and then fixed his attention on Holly. "I'm sorry Holly, but you need to eat something." He walked towards the fridge which caused Holly to scream out in annoyance.

Her anger was brought to it's climax when Dean dragged her towards the table and forced her to sit down at one of the seats. Before she could move, he placed a hand on each of her shoulders and held her tightly in place. "This is so fucking ridiculous Dean! You can't do this."

"I can, and I will." Dean stated firmly in return.

Holly watched Sam slice up some ham. "I'm a vegetarian." She stated lamely, resorting to some sort of last attempt to save herself from being force fed.

Dean's grip tightened around her shoulders momentarily as he let out an annoyed sigh. "Yeah, because the last time I was in town you totally didn't eat a cheeseburger." He stated with heavy sarcasm.

"You suck." This was the only insult that Holly could think of as she continued to watch Sam make her a sandwich. She was extremely annoyed. "Dean, I'm not even hungry."

"You've probably gone past the point of hunger Holls." Dean looked down at his withering friend and sighed. "What do you honestly think your hunger strike is going to accomplish?" Holly remained silent, which only irritated Dean even more. "Well?"

Holly looked away from Dean and forced the tears from falling. She didn't want to tell him that whenever she did something normal she felt guilty because Emma could no longer do those things. She didn't want to tell him that not eating was a coping mechanism; the constant hunger pangs covered over her overbearing numbness. Before she knew it Sam had placed a sandwich on a plate in front of her. She looked down at the food and yearned so badly for it, she could practically taste the drool building up in her mouth. But then Holly bit her lip and glared down at the source of energy.

She was torn. If she ate then Dean and Sam would lay off a little bit and she would probably feel much more alive, but if she didn't then Dean would kick up a fuss and she'd probably break down. Then she thought of Emma, her little sister who couldn't eat anymore. Whenever Holly thought of herself bringing some food to her lips she became instantly repulsed.

"You don't really expect me to force feed you, do you?" Dean chuckled shortly, though both Holly and Sam knew that he was highly capable of forcing her to eat something. Dean was extremely concerned for his friend. Not only had she not eaten but she was barely sleeping, drinking or taking care of herself in general. His temper was running on a very short fuse and Holly knew that he could erupt at any second.

Sam knew this too. He stepped forward and looked between the two of them. "How about I go and get some groceries in? I kind of noticed that you were running out..." He really didn't want to have to witness the argument that he could see building up.

Before Holly could keep him from staying, just in case she needed him to stand as a witness to whatever Dean was going to do or say, Dean nodded. "That's a good idea Sammy, the fridge is really empty, though I don't see how seeing as there are only two people eating from it."

Holly glared up at Dean. "Is that directed to me?"

"Oh, I don't know.." Dean trailed off sarcastically before scoffing under his breath. "Seeing as Sammy and I are the only two eating then, yeah, I guess it is!"

"Well, if I don't want to eat what's in_ my_ fridge then it's my decision."

"Obviously you're on some sort of suicide mission!"

"Obviously I'm not! Can't you just stay out of my business?"

Dean raised his eyebrow at Holly's comment. "Holly, you asked me to come down here and support you... so that's what I'm going to do!"

"Erm, guys?"

"What?" Both Holly and Dean snapped, turning their attention away from each other for one moment to stare at Sam questionably.

Sam gulped. "I'm going to go now.." He turned quickly on his feet and headed towards the hallway. There was no way in hell that he wanted to be there when things really started to kick off. His brother would try to force Holly to eat the sandwich, but he had a feeling that she would refuse. Getting out of the apartment for a few hours sounded like a good idea to Sam anyway.

Dean and Holly stayed in the kitchen in the same stances as they were before Sam left abruptly; Dean was stood above Holly, glaring down at her, and Holly was sat in her chair sending deadly looks at Dean. They remained completely silent, neither of them backing down. Then they heard the apartment door slam shut.

"The sandwich is getting cold."

"Sandwiches are best served cold."

"So, that means you'll eat it then."

Holly suddenly slammed her hands down on to the table, which surprised both herself and Dean. "What part of 'not hungry' do you not understand Dean?"

"What part of 'suicidal' do you not understand Holly?" Dean mimicked Holly but his tone was deadly serious. When he saw the look in her eyes he shook his head in disbelief. "But that was what you always wanted, wasn't it? It's what you've wanted since Emma-"

"Shut up."

Dean leaned closer to Holly and frowned. "You are not killing yourself on my watch." He warned her, his voice low. "I don't care if I have to kidnap you and chuck you into Bobby's panic room-"

"Who's Bobby and what the hell is a panic room?" Holly questioned which cut Dean off momentarily.

He blinked a few times as if he had suddenly remembered that Holly was a stranger to the hunting world and that she'd have no idea who Bobby was. "It's an expression," He shrugged before gently placing one of his hands on Holly's cheek, though he still kept one of his hands firmly on her shoulder just in case she tried to escape. "I'm you're best friend, right?" Holly nodded. "What kind of best friend would I be if I just sat here and watched you kill yourself?"

Holly bit her lip. She knew that Dean was right; He was being an amazing friend and she couldn't be mad at him for that. "I'm sorry," She whispered, suddenly realizing how much of a bad friend she was being. She had been so wrapped up in Emma's death that she had forgotten that Dean was trying to do everything to make her feel better, even if she was certain she wouldn't feel better for a long, long time.

"For what?" Dean asked her.

"For being such a bad friend."

In response to Holly's statement, Dean raised his eyebrow. "Holly, you just lost somebody very, very important to you... I think I can take a few outbursts." His face turned stern momentarily. "But what I won't have is you going on this path of self destruction. Emma wouldn't want it, I don't want it and deep down neither do you." He moved his hand from her shoulder and grabbed her hand. "I mean it when I say I'll do whatever I can to help. But, first, you should probably eat that sandwich."

"Before it goes cold?" Holly teached and she actually allowed a small smile to tug at her lips.

Dean nodded and then motioned towards the sandwich. "Before it goes cold." He squeezed her hand and then moved away from Holly, allowing her some space, which she was thankful for.

She looked down at the plate and took a deep breath as she picked up the sandwich. This was a start. She had to do this for Emma, she had to do it for Dean.

* * *

When Sam got back to the apartment, he was greeted with the sight of Dean and Holly curled up fast asleep on the couch. It did surprise him because, by the way things were going when he left, he was pretty certain there would be a huge fight which would result in the two of them sitting in different rooms and avoiding each other. The youngest Winchester couldn't help but smile though; seeing his brother cuddling with a girl was definitely new to him.

His attention was suddenly averted to the sound of the apartment phone ringing. He glanced over to Dean and Holly, to see if they would wake, but when he decided that they were definitely sleeping right through it he walked towards the phone to answer it himself.

"Hello?" He questioned as he held the phone against his ear.

Silence.

Sam raised his eyebrow. "Hello?"

His greeting was met with deep, rapid breathing and the sound of static feedback. He winced as the sharp sounds flew into his ear.

"Is anybody there?"

The line went dead. When it did, Sam pulled the phone away from his ear and looked down at it in a confused manner. But then he brushed it off as there being something wrong with the phone. Just as he was about to put it back down, though, he noticed a new voice mail. Sam quickly glanced back towards Dean and Holly, happy to see they were still sleeping, and then turned to listen to the voice mail.

"_You have one new message from unknown... New message:'_

As soon as the beep sounded, Sam was bombarded with extremely high pitched static, soft whispers that he couldn't make out and what sounded like high pitched laughing.

"_ее тело - рудники_"

Then, after a couple more seconds of static laughing, the voice mail ended.

Sam stared down at the phone, his eyes wide. "What the hell?" He muttered, thinking back to those strange words uttered in the middle of the voice mail. It definitely wasn't English, or any other language that he knew. The thing that worried Sam the most about the voice was how it was so distorted... the tone of it sent shivers down his spine.

All he knew was that this wasn't normal and he had a bad feeling about it all.

* * *

**I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update! I've had a lot of problems in my life and I've just overcome most of them so now I think I can get my stories updated on a more regular basis. Thank you for being patient!**


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